994 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15 



either north or south. I see no great significance 

 in this, and believe chance had much to do with it. 

 But another matter has interested me greatly. 

 My yard is about 40 feet wide, east and west, 

 and 160 feet long north and south, and better 

 protected from winds at the north than at the 

 south end. I find that the loss in the north half 

 of the yard was barely one colony, while in the 

 south half the loss was 14. I also find that the 

 colonies of the north half average much stronger, 

 as a rule, than those at the other end. I have 

 observed the same conditions in other years, 

 although not, perhaps, so pronounced. Such 

 facts hardly need comment. In selecting a site 

 for bees, take one where the snow lies on the 

 ground all winter without drifting, and then -set 

 facing any way you like. 



BEE-KEEPING IN THE 

 SOUTHWEST 



By Louis Scholl 



The Texas Bee-keepers' Association convened 

 in annual convention at College Station, Texas, 

 July 7, 8, 9, with a good attendance. Officers 

 for the ensuing year are: F. L. Aten, Round 

 Rock, President; J. N. Long, Pearsall, Vice- 

 president; Louis H. Scholl, New Braunfels, Sec- 

 retary-treasurer. This has been one of the most 

 profitable meetings the association has ever had. 



LIVE-BEE DEMONSTRATIONS. 



If you intend to do any advertising, be there 

 with the goods, so the people can see them; and 

 then if you have the right kind of "gab" to go 

 with it you'll do your advertising. Therefore 

 live-bee demonstrations are great advertisers if 

 the right person is in charge. Such a one was 

 given last year at the Texas Farmers' Congress, 

 and was so interesting we were requested to give 

 it again this year. 



THE SEASON IN TEXAS. 



While some localities in Texas have had a 

 failure in a honey crop, others have proven ex- 

 traordinarily good. In our own localities here, 

 numerous spring flowers, from early until late in 

 the season, put the bees in the best possible con- 

 dition; and although we did not have our usual 

 April flow from the mesquite, horsemint and 

 marigold made up for it and even continued 

 longer, so that, when the second yield from mes- 

 quite began in early June, the bees were kept con- 

 tinually at work. Then before the mesquite 

 flow was over, cotton honey was coming in with 

 a rush, lasting throughout June and July; and 

 the bees are still working steadily on this plant, 

 of which there are thousands of acres within easy 

 reach of all of my yards. So, all together, this 

 has been an ideal year with those who are located 

 as favorably as I am. 



But the total yield for the entire State will be 

 short, and prices will reign rather higher than 

 before. Mr. Toeppeiwein writes: 



THE PURE-FOOD LAWS AND HONEY PRICES FOR 

 TEXAS BEE-KEEPERS. 



The pure-food law, from a bee-keeper's stand- 

 point, is one of the best and most important laws 

 that have ever been passed. I never heard of a 

 bee-keeper wanting to sell impure honey, and the 

 consumer realizes this. Therefore, if the bee- 

 keeper and consumer could deal directly with 

 each other the bee-keeper would have no difficulty 

 whatever in disposing of all the honey that he 

 can produce at a good price. Much more honey 

 would be consumed if the people could be sure 

 that every pound they buy is pure. In Texas 

 there was rarely any impure honey put up. The 

 adulterated honey that was sold here was put up 

 in other States and shipped in. Since the pure- 

 food law is in efltect this can not be done, and 

 the consumers are aware of it; and for this reason 

 we have a better demand for extracted honey 

 than we formerly had. A great many people 

 have bought comb honey because they want to 

 be sure that the honey is pure; but the pure-food 

 law has caused the demand for extracted honey 

 to increase so that the difference between comb 

 and extracted honey will be less. Many would 

 just as soon have extracted honey as comb at the 

 same price, or even prefer it, so long as they 

 know it is pure. Others, who would not eat hon- 

 ey formerly, eat it now, and are willing to pay 

 a fair price for it. 



T'he only way I can sell honey is to show my 

 bu^rs why it is profitable for them to handle it; 

 and the way I do it is this: I guarantee that all 

 the extracted honey has been heated to not less 

 than 152 degrees, and that it will not granulate 

 within ?0 days from date of shipment. Then I 

 put the price where they can move it, and when 

 they are backed up with this guarantee they are 

 willing to handle it. 



Some bee-keepers will not heat their extracted 

 honey, as it is too much trouble, and they say 

 that they can find buyers who are willing to buy 

 it just as it is taken from the hives. This was 

 true the past spring before the buyers knew how 

 fast certain kinds of honey would granulate. Then 

 when this honey did granulate, these bee-keep- 

 ers did not always take it back, but left it in the 

 hands of the wholesale dealers, saying that it was 

 in good shape when they sent it. Now, this may 

 be true, and they be legally correct; but the 

 buyers do not want to handle honey any more. 

 Such business injures every bee-keeper in the 

 State, and we should encourage our neighbors to 

 heat every pound of extracted honej'' they sell, so 

 it will not be likely to granulate within thirty 

 days. If we give this guarantee, then we can 

 readily dispose of our honey, and the price will 

 go back to where it should be, and where it was 

 this spring. If not, the demand for bulk comb 

 honey will decrease. 



We should encourage the use of bulk comb 

 honey, as bee-keepers in other States do not put 

 up much of that kind of honey, and naturally we 

 have but little competition, while extracted hon- 

 ey can be obtained almost anywhere. We get 

 more for our honey than bee-keepers in other 

 parts of the country, as we have the demand for 

 it right here in our own State and neighborhood. 

 Our crop usually comes before honey is shipped 

 in from other States, and this always helps us a 

 great deal in holding a steady price on our prod- 



